You realize you are moving abroad only the night before the departure, when you finally go to sleep after having spent the last month saying goodbyes to all your family and friends, trying to convince them and yourself it was a good decision. It was, no worries. In the bed, the night before the departure, you don´t know it yet, but you will discover it as soon as you are on the plane that it was a good decision to move on, abroad, in a new land, challenge yourself, grow up, get out of your comfort zone and start discovering the world.

The question is, where to start from when arriving in a new country?After 12 movings abroad, I am now an expert of such a mission and the following are my advices:

Start with a job. Start looking for it as soon as you arrive. If you are smart you may have started checking the market already from home, sending cvs and writing emails informing people you are gonna arrive soon.The reason why it is important to find a job first, is that once you have one it will make all the other steps easier. it is very difficult tio find a house or a room without a job. Not to talk about the fact that if you don’t have a job it is almost impossible to get registered.Every country has its own job market ways. In England, Australia, Holland everything happens online. You just have to find out what websites to check.In other countries like Iceland or Norway there is not much happening online and it is much easier to go from door to door to bring your cv around. They are small countries where mainly people know each other. So it is a bit more difficult to get a good job at the beginning, as you are unknown to them, but don´t worry. At the beginning, you just need something that help you to fix the rest.

keep your travel dream alive and go!

Sleep in a hostel.Do not worry to much about the accommodation. Even though it is good to have one before you arrive, consider the fact that you will spend a lot of money to pay the rent and the deposit and , in case you don´t know the people you live with, there is the risk you finish to live with people you don´t know. Do not rush things. Take your time. Hostels are a good solution as many of them offer discounts for long stays, and they allow you enough time to find a job and get enough money to find a proper house. Many of them can even offer you free accommodation in exchange of some voluntary works. It worth a try. Not to cont the fact it is the best way to meet immediately a lot of people and not to feel alone when you are new .

Make it legal and go to register.Once you have a job and possibly a place to stay you can finally go to register at the town hall. In every country of the world, it is very important to register as soon as possible, as in this way to start gaining rights in case something happen. As I said before, it is very difficult to register without a proper job, but once you have one it should be easy,. Ask your boss to help you to register. All the companies do it or can do it and it is much easier if they do it for you. Once you are registered it is done. You exist! You can start receiving your salary, paying taxes, opening a bank account and, like here in Iceland, ordering a pizza online.

Open a bank account.Last step. I left it last because it is impossible to open a bank account if all the previous steps are not all done.It is wise to arrive at the beginning of a new month in a new place, so that you have time to do all these steps and, hopefully, have a job and a bank account by the end of the month so that you can get payed.

There is nothing like sitting down and think: I made it!

Time to settle down and become a local.Let´s face the truth: first months abroad are not easy. It takes an average of 6 months to start to feel a bit local and settled. But those first 6 months are also the most excited, for sure the ones when you meet most people. Everyday is a new discovery and adventure and the feeling you have everytime you get out of the door is to be alive and to go to fight for your happiness. It is a tough time as you need to get used to a new culture, probably a new language, new people and their way to behave, the concept of what is fair and what is not, what is polite and what is not, the way to enjoy, the way to become friends with people, new eating habits, new food, and once in a while the feeling to be a bit lost as well. it is all normal. Live it like a new adventure, because that´s what it is and enjoy those days of wonder and wander. In few months place you will call that place Yours.